Banking on Maulana: Congress dusts off a freedom icon

On October 28, two days after he took over as Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge visited the memorials of B R Ambedkar and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in Delhi.

Ambedkar, the framer of the Constitution, has no dearth of admirers among the political class, with the Dalit icon’s name on the lips of leaders of all hues time to time.

But what about Maulana Azad, the country’s first education minister?

Maulana fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. But he is barely remembered. Even in the Congress, the party that fought for the independence, the freedom fighter lives on the fringes of the party’s memory; his contributions acknowledged with an occasional tweet on his birth or death anniversaries.

But the Congress seems to have woken up, even if a bit late.

The party is trying to reclaim its past icons, who gave their life and blood for the country, and proudly showcase them.

The ‘memorial darshan’ and the tweets come as the BJP skilfully continues to appropriate neglected icons of the freedom struggle such as Sardar Vallabhai Patel and Subhash Chandra Bose while slamming the Congress for refusing to look beyond Nehru.

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Maulana laid the foundation for the education system in India by setting up IITs, University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) among others before his death in 1958.

A veteran of many political battles, Kharge is aware of the party’s history and knows the importance of countering the RSS-BJP attempt to appropriate national icons.

Kharge also dropped hints on the way forward for the party. “Paid floral tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad at his mazaar in Delhi. A revolutionary freedom fighter and India's first education minister, he believed in our country's democratic and secular credentials and strongly opposed the idea of partition on religious lines,” he tweeted.

Two weeks later, on Nov 11, Kharge remembered Maulana’s birth anniversary. He not only tweeted but visited Parliament to pay floral tributes to the leader.

He also quoted Azad: “I am part of the indivisible unity that is Indian nationality. I am indispensable to this noble edifice and without me this splendid structure is incomplete”. And added that “the contribution of Maulana Azad in nation building is ever inspiring”.

Rahul Gandhi, who is channelling another freedom icon, the Mahatma, with his padayatra, joined in with a tweet: “Remembering the great freedom fighter, scholar and India’s first education minister, Bharat Ratna, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, on his birth anniversary today. His vision for building India’s education system gave us many world class institutions. He remains our inspiration.”

Kharge also did not miss the memorials of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Babu Jagjivan Ram. He also made it a point to tweet on the anniversaries of J B Kripalani, Surendranath Banerjee, Bipin Chandra Pal and Vallabhai Patel. On October 31, he also paid tributes to Patel at the Congress office, a first in years.

Winds of change are definitely blowing in the party.

The Congress says this is nothing new and icons like Maulana Azad always have a special place in the hearts and minds of party leaders.

“To say we forgot people like Maulana Azad is not true,” a senior Congress leader said, but agreed that these icons were not celebrated the way they should have been.

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He said that Maulana Azad is one icon whom the Congress could project “against the existing political climate of hatred”.

Political analyst Rasheed Kidwai believes the Congress’ renewed interest in Maulana Azad is logical as he is the right personality from the pantheon of freedom leaders it can bank on to attract both Muslims and non-Muslims across the country.

“Maulana Azad is not a rabid figure. He was religious no doubt but at the same time he was a rational leader. One should not forget that he was totally against the two-nation theory. His nationalism is not based on religion,” Kidwai told DH.

At a time parties like the AIMIM, TRS and the JD(S) are wooing Muslims, the Congress can rely on Maulana who stood for Hindu-Muslim unity.

It is not just Kharge and Rahul. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot bluntly told Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a recent event that if he is respected across the world, it is because of the work done by Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and Maulana Azad. The message was not lost.

Congress leaders believe the projection of a “rational” Muslim against the extremism of some Muslim outfits as well as Hindutva organisations would bring them benefits.

The Congress’ myopia towards its own history left the party vulnerable to attacks (something the BJP exploited to telling effect). The sudden reverence towards its past icons shows the party is looking to course-correct before more of its icons are ‘poached’.